


Creatures of Flesh and Blood

by NotALemon



Series: A Two-Man, One-Angel Operation (Supernatural Rewritten) [7]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angel Radio (Supernatural), Angel Radio as a Plot Device, Canon Rewrite, Episode: s01e06 Skin, Established Gabriel/Sam Winchester, Gabriel (Supernatural) is Loki, Gabriel's Questionable Past, M/M, Protective Gabriel, episode rewrite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:08:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23638087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotALemon/pseuds/NotALemon
Summary: Dean chuckles. “Look, sorry ‘bout your buddy, okay? But this does not sound like our kind of problem.”“Itisour problem,” Sam says, pointing between Gabriel and himself. “They’re our friends.”“St. Louis is four hundred miles behind us, Sam,” Dean argues. He and Sam exchange a look, long and annoyed. Dean sighs and pulls out of the gas station, fast enough to make the tires squeal, undoubtedly pissed.
Relationships: Gabriel/Sam Winchester
Series: A Two-Man, One-Angel Operation (Supernatural Rewritten) [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1643980
Comments: 5
Kudos: 81





	Creatures of Flesh and Blood

Dean pulls into Sure Gas. “Alright, I figure we’d hit Tucumcari by lunch, then head south, hit Bisbee by midnight.” He looks at Sam, expectantly, then when he wasn’t respond, cracks a grin. “Sam wears women’s underwear.”

“Yeah, and it’s really hot,” Gabriel pipes up from the back. Dean glares at him. “What? You said it.”

“I’ve been listenin’. I’m just busy.” He’s checking his emails on his PalmPilot, almost idly, in his Carhart jacket and a collared shirt to fight off the slight chill. “And don’t bring that up, Gabe. You’re going to scar him for life.”

Gabriel crosses his arms in the backseat. “ _He’s_ the one that brought it up in the first place,” he mutters, childish as always.

“Busy doin’ what?” Dean asks.

“Reading emails.” 

Dean gets out of the car and walks around the back. “Emails from who?” he asks.

“My friends at Stanford.”

“You’re kidding,” Dean says, retrieving the gas pump and beginning to fill the Impala. “You still keep in touch with your college buddies?”

“Why not?”

Dean leans against the side of the Impala. “Just thought they’d think you’re kinda crazy. Y’know, ‘cuz you hunt monsters for a livin’. What’s up with that Jess chick, anyway?”

“No,” Sam says, firmly.

“I was just askin’ what she’s gettin’ up to!” Dean says.

“She’s _way_ outta your league,” Gabriel says, popping his gum. Dean glares at him. “No, seriously. She’s outta _my_ league. Girl like that…” he whistles.

Sam continues reading through his emails.

“What ‘bout Luis? You seemed to like him an awful lot.” Gabriel grins, fiendish.

“Hey man, just ‘cuz my brother swings that way doesn’t mean I gotta, too,” Dean says. He gives Gabriel a harsh glare.

“God,” Sam mutters, reading through a particular email.

“Hm?” Gabriel asks, leaning over to read over Sam’s shoulder.

“What?” Dean leans in through the open window to read it as well.

“This email from this girl, Rebecca Warren, one of those friends of mine,” Sam explains to Dean.

“Is she hot?” Dean asks.

“I went to school with her and her brother, Zach," Sam continues, ignoring his brother's question. "She says Zach’s been charged with murder. He’s been arrested for killing his girlfriend.” Sam furrows his brow. “Rebecca says he didn’t do it, but... it sounds like the cops have a pretty good case.”

“Dude, what kinda people are you hangin’ out with?” Dean asks.

“No, man. I know Zach. He’s no killer.”

“Yeah. He’s not really about that kind of life,” Gabriel says. 

“Well, maybe you know Zach as well as he knows you,” Dean suggests.

Gabriel looks at him. 

“They’re in St. Louis. We’re goin’,” Sam says.

Dean chuckles. “Look, sorry ‘bout your buddy, okay? But this does not sound like our kind of problem.” 

“It _is_ our problem,” Sam says, pointing between Gabriel and himself. “They’re our friends.”

“St. Louis is four hundred miles behind us, Sam,” Dean argues. He and Sam exchange a look, long and annoyed. Dean sighs and pulls out of the gas station, fast enough to make the tires squeal, undoubtedly pissed. 

-

Rebecca opens the door to her house to see the Winchesters and Gabriel. She lights up. “Oh my God, Sam! Gabe!” 

“Well, if it isn’t little Becky,” Sam says with a smile.

“You know what you can do with that _little Becky_ crap.” She hugs Sam regardless, her long blond hair trailing behind her. “You and Gabe still-?”

“Yeah,” Sam says. He smiles at Gabriel. “Yeah, we- yeah.”

“We got your email,” Gabriel says.

“I didn’t think you would come here,” Rebecca says.

Dean steps forward, holding out his hand. “Dean. Older brother.”

“Hi,” Rebecca says, warmly but confused, shaking his hand.

“Hi,” Dean says.

“We’re here to help,” Sam says. “Whatever we can do.”

“Come in.” Rebecca leads them inside the house. Dean shuts the door behind them. 

“Nice place,” Dean remarks.

“It’s my parents’,” Rebecca explains, leading them through the dining room. “I was just crashing here for the long weekend when everything happened. I decided to take the semester off. I’m gonna stay until Zach’s free.”

“Where are your folks?” Sam asks.

“They live in Paris for half the year, so they’re on their way home now for the trial.” She leads them into the kitchen, stopping at the counter, resting her palms against it. “Do you guys want a beer or something?”

Dean smiles. “Hey-”

“No, thanks,” Sam says, firmly.

“So… tell us what happened,” Gabriel says.

Rebecca stiffens. “Well, um, Zach came home, and he found Emily tied to a chair. And she was beaten up and bloody, and she wasn’t breathing, and so...” Rebecca shudders and begins crying. “So, he-- he called 911, and the police- they showed up, and they arrested him. But, the thing is, the only way that Zach could’ve killed Emily is if he was in two places at the same time,” Rebecca insists, tearfully. Sam shifts closer to her. “The police- they have a video. It’s from the security tape from across the street. And it shows Zach coming home at ten thirty. Now, Emily was killed just after that, but I swear, he was here with me, having a few beers until at least after midnight.”

“You know, maybe we could see the crime scene. Zach’s house,” Sam suggests.

“We could,” Dean agrees with a nod.

“Why?” Rebecca asks. “I mean, what could you do?”

“Well, me and Gabe-- not much. But Dean’s a cop.”

Dean laughs. “Detective, actually,” he corrects.

“Really?” Rebecca asks.

Dean nods, smiling charismatically. 

“Where?”

“Bisbee, Arizona. But I’m off-duty now.”

“You guys, it’s so nice to offer, but I just- I don’t know,” Rebecca says, shaking her head.

“Bec, we _all_ know Zach didn’t do this,” Gabriel says. “So we gotta figure out a way to prove he isn’t getting his just desserts.”

“Okay,” Rebecca says. “I’m gonna go get the keys.” She walks away, down the hall.

Dean walks around Sam and Gabriel until he’s taking the place Rebecca recently-vaccinated. “Oh, yeah, man. You guys are real straight shooters with your friends,” Dean remarks. “I thought they knew.”

“I… haven’t gotten around to telling them yet. Planned on doing it later.” Sam shakes his head. “Look, Zach and Becky need our help,” he argues.

“I just don’t think this is our kind of problem,” Dean argues back. 

“C’mon, Dean. Two places at once? That’s pretty damn suspicious,” Gabriel says. “And I _know_ you’ve looked into less,” he adds.

Dean says nothing.

-

Dean parks the Impala outside of Zach’s house. The entire group- both Winchester boys, Gabriel, and Rebecca- exit the car.

“You’re sure this is okay?” Rebecca asks Dean, arms crossed like she’s hugging herself.

“Yeah,” Dean says, completely bullshitting. “I am an officer of the law.” He leads Sam and Gabriel into the house, Rebecca standing on the porch steps, hesitating. 

Like most murder scenes, the house is both a mess and surprisngly domestic. Fruit, opened magazines, and playing cards rest on a table. On another, there’s crumpled notebook paper and a picture of Zach and Emily. The walls and furniture are smeared with dried brown blood. Pictures on the walls are crooked.

“Becky, you wanna wait outside?” Sam asks quietly.

“No,” Rebecca says. “I wanna help.” She ducks beneath the yellow police tape and enters the house.

“Tell us what else the police said,” Sam says, gently.

“Well, there’s no side of a break-in,” Rebecca says, tears in her voice. “They say that Emily let her attacker in. The lawyers- they’re already talking about plea bargain.” She looks around the bloodstained room, beginning to cry. “Oh, God…”

“Look, Bec, if Zach wasn’t the one who did this, then someone else sure did, pretendin’ to be him. Any idea who might have a revenge boner for your brother?” Gabriel asks.

Rebecca shakes her head, then stops, remembering something. She has to swallow down emotion before she speaks, tapping her own shoulder. “Um, there was something,” she says, wiping away her tears. “Somebody broke in here and stole some clothes- Zach’s clothes. The police- they don’t think it’s anything. I mean, we’re not that far from downtown. Sometimes people get robbed.”

Sam and Gabriel walk away. Dean opens the front door and sees the neighbor’s black dog, barking loudly at them. Rebecca comes up to stand behind him. 

“You know, that used to be the sweetest dog,” Rebeca remarks.

“What happened?” Dean asks.

“He just changed.”

“Do you remember when he changed?”

“I guess around the time of the murder,” Rebecca says. 

Dean looks at her, then walks away, joining Sam and Gabriel in the hallway. Sam’s looking at a picture of Rebecca, Zach, Gabriel, and himself. 

“So, the neighbor’s dog went psycho right around the time Zach’s girlfriend was killed,” Dean says, walking up to them.

“Animals really know what’s up, paranormal-wise,” Gabriel says. “Daddy really wanted to make humans blind.”

Dean gives Gabriel a scathing look. “Yeah. Maybe Fido saw somethin’.”

“So, you think maybe this is our kind of problem?” Sam asks, in that way younger siblings do when they think they’re right.

“Yes,” Gabriel answers.

“No,” Dean replies, still glaring at Gabriel. Sam rolls his eyes. “Probably not. But we should look at the security tape, you know, just to make sure.”

“Yeah,” Sam says.

“Yeah.”

Rebecca walks over to them, still hugging herself, looking like she doesn’t believe any of this is real.

“So, the tape,” Dean says, in his serious, authoritative voice. “The security footage- you think maybe your lawyers could get their hands on it? ‘Cuz I don’t have that kind of jurisdiction.”

“I’ve already got it,” Rebecca says. Sam raises his eyebrows at her. “I didn’t wanna say something in front of the cop,” she says, glancing at Dean. Dean laughs. “I stole it off the lawyer’s desk.” She shrugs. “I just had to see it for myself.” 

“Alright,” Dean says, approvingly.

Sam looks at the picture of them all- him, Gabriel, Rebecca, and Zach-- standing together. Gabriel takes his hand and leads him out of the house.

-

He watches and waits, observing his prey closely. He writes in a notebook. His hands are not monstrous; they are deceptively human.

But his eyes. If you look closely enough, just for a second. They almost seem to flash silver.

-

They’re back in Rebecca’s house, watching the grayscale security footage, numbers counting up in the bottoms of each camera view. Sam stands up straight, the bottom of the remote resting beneath his chin. Gabriel’s leaning against Sam’s side, brow furrowed. Dean sits on the arm of Rebecca’s couch, right next to her

“Here he comes,” Rebecca announces. 

On the tape, Zach enters his house.

Dean points at the timestamp. “Twenty-two oh-four. That’s just after ten,” he says. “You said time of death was about ten thirty.”

“Our lawyers hired some kind of video expert,” Rebecca says. “He says the tape’s authentic. It wasn’t tampered with.”

Sam’s eyes widen at the tape. He glances at Gabriel, who nods. “Hey, Becky, can we take those beers now?”

“Oh, sure.” Rebecca stands to go into the kitchen.

“Hey,” Gabriel says. “Maybe some sandwiches, too?”

Rebecca laughs. “What do you think this is, Hooters?” She leaves the room for the kitchen regardless.

“I wish,” Dean mutters. He walks over to Sam and Gabriel, standing in front of the screen. “What is it?”

“Check this,” Gabriel says, pointing at the screen. It rewinds, then replays. 

Zach looks directly into the camera, eyes a coin-like shade of bright, shiny silver. Gabriel snaps, pausing the tape. 

“Well, maybe it’s just a camera flare,” Dean argues.

“Whoa-hoah, no way it’s a camera flare. You ever seen this before?” Gabriel asks.

“You know, a lot of cultures believe that a photograph can catch a glimpse of the soul,” Sam says. 

“Right,” Dean says.

Gabriel raises his eyebrows and looks at Sam, giving him a _go-ahead_ motion. 

“Remember that dog that was freakin’ out? Maybe he saw this thing. Maybe this is some kind of dark double of Zach’s, something that looks like him but isn’t him,” Sam continues.

“Like a Doppelganger,” Dean says.

Gabriel grins.

“Yeah,” Sam says. “It’d sure explain how he was two places at once.”

-

What looks like you, walks like you, talks like you, acts like you, tortures your family like you, but isn’t you?

Who cares? It’s in your house already.

-

Dean parks the Impala behind the house and slides out of it. Sam does the same. Gabriel appears by Sam’s side, taking his hand. They stare up at the house.

“Alright, so what are we doin’ here at five thirty in the morning?” Dean asks irritably, holding his morning coffee.

“I realized something,” Sam says, bright-eyed, looking around the area. “The videotape shows the killer goin’ in, but not comin’ out.”

“So, he came out the back door?” Dean drinks his coffee, watching Sam and Gabriel cross the street without him, in no rush to do much of anything.

“Right,” Sam says. “So, there should be a trail to follow. A trail the police would never pursue.” He squeezes Gabriel’s hand, then looks into the red dumpster, around the area, almost inspecting it.

“Smart boy,” Gabriel says.

“‘Cuz they think the killer never left. And they caught your friend Zach inside,” Dean says, leaning against the Impala’s hood and drinking his coffee. “I still don’t know what we’re doin’ here at five thirty in the morning,” he mutters.

Sam snoops around the building’s exterior, noticing dried blood smeared on a telephone pole nearby. 

“Well, _somebody’s_ been here,” Gabriel says, brushing his hand over it.

Sam turns to Dean, bitchily. “Blood,” he says, inclining his head to the pole.

“Yeah, but the trail ends,” Dean says, lazily looking around where he’s standing. “I don’t see anything over here.”

A siren screams as an ambulance screeches past the house. Sam and Dean exchange a look. Dean doesn’t look pleased at the thought of having to follow a lead at this hour.

“Alright, bets on whether or not that’s our guy are going… now,” Gabriel says. 

-

The Winchesters and Gabriel walk over to the scene. The Ambulance has pulled in front of someone’s house. The neighbors, in pajamas and jogging clothes, stand outside and watch. An asian man steps into a police car in cuffs. 

“What happened?” Dean asks a nearby woman in jogging clothes, with her phone strapped to her bicep.

“He tried to kill his wife,” the woman answers, sadly. “Tied her up and beat her.”

“Really?” Sam asks.

“I used to see him going to work in the morning. He’d wave, say hello.” She looks at the scene in confusion and shakes her head in disbelief. “He seemed like such a nice guy.” 

Sam gives Dean a meaningful look.

-

Sam and Gabriel, standing to the side of the house, look around. Sam idly looks inside a couple of garbage cans, finding nothing. They move to the front of the house, just looking at it, hand-in-hand. 

Dean comes up behind them. “Hey,” he says. “Remember when I said this wasn’t our kind of problem?”

“Yeah,” Sam replies.

“ _Definitely_ our kind of problem.”

“Oh? What’d you find, Deanie-boy?” Gabriel asks.

Dean jabs a thumb behind himself, at the neighbors gathered around the scene. “Well, I just talked to the patrolman who was first on the scene, heard this guy, Alex’s, story. Apparently the dude was driving home from a business trip when his wife was attacked.”

“So, he was two places at once,” Sam says. 

“Exactly,” Dean confirms. He uses wild hand motions to speak, more awake now than before. “Then he sees himself in the house, police think he’s a nutjob.”

Gabriel whistles.

“Two dark doubles attacking loved ones in exactly the same way,” Sam states. He walks around Dean, closer to the people at the house.

“Could be the same thing doin’ it, too,” Dean suggests.

Sam thinks for a second. Gabriel watches him work through it. “Something that can make itself look like anyone?” Sam looks at Gabriel. “But I’ve _seen_ your eyes in pictures, Gabe, and you don’t--”

“Not a trickster. _Or_ an archangel,” Gabriel says.

“Oh, so he’s _helping_ this time,” Dean grumbles.

“Shapeshifter?” Sam asks.

“Every culture in the world has a shapeshifter lore. You know, legends of creatures who can transform themselves into animals or other men,” Dean says. “Or, you know, archangel boyfriends who can do crazy shit with a snap of his fingers.”

“I’ll snap you into another dimension, Dean-O,” Gabriel threatens casually.

“Gabe, come on,” Sam pleads. Then he returns to focusing on the case. “Right. Uh. Skinwalkers, werewolves…”

“We’ve got two attacks within blocks of each other. I’m guessin’ we’ve got a shapeshifter prowlin’ the neighborhood,” Dean reasons. He still eyes Gabriel suspiciously.

“Let me ask you this- in all this shapeshifter lore, can any of them fly?” Sam asks. He looks up above the house, as though the shapeshifter will be above them, flying on large, fleshy wings.

“Not that I know of,” Dean says.

“There’s a trail here,” Gabriel says. “Something’s run out the ass of this building and went on this way.”

“Just like your friend’s house,” Dean says to Sam.

“Yeah. And, just like at Zach’s house, the trail suddenly _ends_ ,” Gabriel says. “Whatever it is just- poof!” 

Dean looks at Sam. “Well, there’s another way to go,” Dean says, scuffing his boot against a manhole in the street. “Down.”

They look at the manhole.

Sam and Dean climb down the manhole, looking around. Gabriel appears next to Sam’s side without much effort.

The sewer is dark and grimy.

“I bet this runs right by Zach’s house, too,” Sam says. “The shapeshifter could be using the sewer system to get around.”

“I think you’re right,” Dean says. “Look at this.” He bends down. Sam follows him.

There’s a pile of blood and skin, looking more like meat scraps than anything else, like a butcher had screwed up and shredded part of a carcass to bits. It reeks of metallic blood.

“Is this from his victims?” Sam asks.

Dean takes out a pocket knife and holds up some of the skin on the blade, careful not to touch it with his own skin. It gleams in the meager light, the liquid making it shiny. “You know, I just had a sick thought,” he says. “When the shapeshifter changes shape- maybe it sheds.”

“That is _sick_ ,” Sam says. 

Dean puts the bloody pile back on the ground, making a face at it.

-

Dean opens the trunk of the Impala and leans in. “Well, one thing I learn from Dad is that no matter what kind of shapeshifter it is, there’s one sure way to kill it,” he says. He loads a bullet into a gun.

“Silver bullet to the heart,” Sam says.

“My brilliant Mr. Winchester,” Gabriel coos.

“That’s right,” Dean says, completely ignoring Gabriel’s comment.

Sam’s phone rings. He flips it open. “This is Sam,” he says.

“Where are you?” Rebecca asks, suspicion lacing her voice.

“We’re near Zach’s. We’re just checkin’ some things out,” Sam replies.

“Well, look, Sam, just stop, ‘cuz I really don’t need your help anymore.”

“What are you talkin’ about?”

“I told the lawyers that we went to the crime scene,” Rebecca says.

Sam scoffs. “Why would you do that?”

“Well, I told them that we were with a police officer,” Rebecca says. “And they checked it out, and they told me that there is no Detective Dean Winchester.”

“Bec-”

“No,” Rebecca says. “I don’t understand why you would lie to me about something like that.”

“We’re tryin’ to help,” Sam insists.

“Oh, trying to help?” Rebecca asks, laughing humorlessly. “Do you realize that that was a sealed crime scene? This could have just ruined Zach’s case.”

“Becky, I’m sorry, but-”

“No. Goodbye, Sam.” Rebecca hands up the phone.

Sam looks disappointed, resting against the side of the Impala. Gabriel takes the phone from Sam’s hand and laces their fingers together reassuringly.

Dean walks over to Sam. “I hate to say it, but that’s exactly what I’m talkin’ about,” he says. “You lie to your friends because if they knew the real you, they’d be freaked. It’s just- it’d be easier if-”

“If I was like you,” Sam says, glumly. “But- I _wanted_ to tell Becky, too, I just didn’t wanna… spring it on her, right after Zach…” he sighs.

“Hey, man, like it or not, we are not like other people,” Dean says.

“No, you’re not,” Gabriel says. “But you _are_ my boyfriend, and the best part of my life, so… there’s that.” 

Sam smiles the smallest smile at Gabriel. “Thanks, Gabe.”

“This whole gig- it ain’t without perks,” Dean continues, eyes on the two of them. He holds up a gun and hands it to Sam, handle-first, like a professional. Sam slides it into the back of his jeans, concealing it with his Carhart.  
-

They walk through the sewers with flashlights and guns bared, each step making a muted squishing noise, mice occasionally squeaking around them, water dripping.

“I think we’re close to its lair,” Dean announces.

“Why do you say that?” Sam asks.

“Because there’s another puke-inducing pile next to your face.”

Sam turns, sees another pile of blood and skin on a nearby pipe, and gags. “Oh, God!”

Gabriel stifles laughter. “Don’t worry lollipop. I’ll keep you safe from the scary, scary skin,” he promises.

Dean points out a pile of flesh-covered clothes in a corner. “Looks like it’s lived here for a while.”

“Who knows how many murders it's gotten away with,” Sam says. 

Gabriel grabs his arm and turns him around. There’s a man standing behind Dean and watching them with an inhuman expression and silver eyes.

“Dean!” Sam says.

Dean turns. The shapeshifter punches him in the face. Dean falls to the ground while the shapeshifter runs off. 

Sam shoots at it a couple of times, missing, and moves over to Dean.

“Get the son of a bitch!” Dean yells.

They run after the shapeshifter. Gabriel snaps away, flying after them.

-

Sam pops out of an open manhole, looking around for any traces of the shifter in the dark night. Gabriel appears at Sam’s side. 

Dean struggles up from the manhole, holding his left arm tightly to his side.

“Alright, let’s split up,” Sam suggests.

“Alright,” Dean agrees.

“What is this? _Scooby-Doo_?” Gabriel asks. “‘Split up and search for clues’? _Really_?”

Dean rolls his eyes and walks off.

-

Dean looks around an alley with his gun drawn, frightening away the other people in the alleyway.

-

Sam and Gabriel search the street, Sam holding his gun inside the jacket so he doesn’t frighten anyone, more considerate than his brother.

-

Dean still looks frantically in the alley.

-

Sam and Gabriel wait on a street corner, quietly talking to each other. Dean comes up behind them.

“Hey,” Dean says, arms spread, making Sam turn around, but not Gabriel. “Anything?”

“No,” Sam says. “He’s gone.”

“Alright, let’s get back to the car,” Dean says. 

Gabriel snaps into the Impala. Sam crosses the street. Dean waits for a passing car to drive by, but as it does, his eyes light up coin-silver.

-

Sam and the shapeshifter stop at the Impala, Gabriel lazily messing around on his pink DS and listening intently to what seems like no one. It’s not unusual for him to tune into what he calls _angel radio_ and listen to what’s happening.

“You think he found another way underground?” Sam asks.

“Yeah, probably,” the shapeshifter says. “You got the keys?”

Sam pauses for a moment, hand in the pocket of his Carhart, before turning around to face the shapeshifter, removing his hand to gesture with it. “Hey, didn’t Dad once face a shapeshift in San Antonio?” he asks. 

“Oh, that was Austin. It turned out not to be a shapeshifter; it was a thought form.” The shapeshifter cracks a small smile. “A psychic projection, remember?”

“Oh, right. Here ya go.” Sam throws the keys at the shapeshifter, who catches it with his left hand without hand problems. 

The shapeshifter opens up the trunk, looking at the assortment of weapons like a candy store. He laughs.

“Don’t move!” Sam commands. He points the gun at the shapeshifter. “What have you done with him?”

“Dude, chill,” the shapeshifter says, taking on Dean’s easy calm. “It’s me, alright?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Sam says. “Where is my brother?”

“You’re about to shoot him. Sam, calm down,” the shapeshifter commands.

“You caught those keys with your left,” Sam points out. “Your shoulder was hurt.”

“Yeah, it’s better,” the shapeshifter says, irate. “What do you want me to do? Cry?”

“You’re not my brother,” Sam accuses.

“Why don’t you pull the trigger, then? ‘Cuz you’re not sure.” The shapeshifter sounds smug. “Dude, you know me.” The shapeshifter subtly reaches into the weapons trunk, taking out a crowbar.

“Don’t-”

The shapeshifter hits Sam twice with the crowbar. Sam falls to the ground.

-

In a dingy and dark room, Sam wakes, bound to a wooden post by his neck and hands. The shapeshifter walks over to him and backhands him hard enough that it makes a sharp fleshy noise. Sam groans in pain, inhaling sharply.

“Where is he?” Sam asks. “Where’s Dean?”

“I wouldn’t worry about him,” the shapeshifter says, coolly, picking up a duffel bag. “I’d worry about _you_.”

“Where is he?” Sam repeats.

“You don’t really wanna know.” The shapeshifter chuckles. He crosses the room. “I swear, the more I learn about you and your family- I thought _I_ came from a bad background.”

“What do you mean, learn?”

The shapeshifter stops admiring a blade. He grabs at his head and grimaces in pain as he remembers Dean’s memories, recalling them like skipping through episodes of a tv show. Sam watches him, confusion clear on his face. Then the shapeshifter relaxes, body unclenching, a hand in front of his mouth, and looks at Sam. “He’s sure got issues with you,” the shapeshifter says, strolling back over to Sam. “You got to go to college. He had to stay home. I mean, _I_ had to stay home.” He throws the bag to the ground. “With Dad. You don’t think I had dreams of my own? But Dad needed me. Where the hell were you?”

“Where is my brother?” Sam demands. 

The shapeshifter leans in close to Sam’s face. “I _am_ your brother,” he says. “See, deep down, I’m just jealous. You got friends. You got a boyfriend. You could have a life. Me? I know I’m a freak. And sooner or later, everybody’s gonna leave me.” He backs away, as big of a fan of dramatics as the real Dean is. 

“What are you talkin’ about?” Sam asks.

“You left. Hell, I did everything Dad asked me to, and he ditched me, too. No explanation, nothin’, just poof.” The shapeshifter gestures. “Left me with your sorry ass.” He picks up a dirty sheet. “But, still, this life? It’s not without its perks.” The shapeshifter laughs coldly. “I meet the nicest people. Like little Becky. You know, Dean would bang her if he had the chance,” the shapeshifter says. “Let’s see what happens.” He smiles, then covers Sam with the sheet.

-

The shapeshifter, as Dean, is let into Rebecca’s house.

-

Sam struggles against the ropes binding him, then fails. “Dammit,” he mutters under his breath. 

There’s movement in another part of the room, then a cough. “That better be you, Sam, and not that freak of nature,” Dean threatens.

Sam laughs. “You better not be talkin’ about Gabriel,” he says.

Dean uncovers himself from beneath the sheet, his gray t-shirt grimy, and begins to work at undoing his ropes. 

“He went to Rebecca’s, lookin’ like you,” Sam continues.

“Well, he’s not stupid. He picked the handsome one.”

Sam gives Dean a bit of an annoyed look, then continues working on his ropes.

-

The shapeshifter, as Dean, sits in front of Rebecca’s fireplace with her.

-

“Yeah, that’s the thing,” Sam says. “He didn’t just look like you; he _was_ you. Or he was becoming you.”

Dean finally cuts through the rope and unties himself.

Gabriel appears in the dingy room with the soft sound of feathers. “Okay, _now_ I’m starting to get pissed,” he announces.

“Look who decided to finally come,” Dean comments.

“Sorry, I was checkin’ in with home. Important angel stuff, blah blah blah.” Gabriel looks at Sam and snaps, the ropes binding him untying themselves. “You okay, cupcake?” He snaps over to Sam, inspecting his rope-bruised skin. “I’m gonna kill that bastard.”

“ _That bastard_ looks like my brother, right now. _And_ is downloading his thoughts and memories.” He looks up at Gabriel, into his golden eyes. “Help me up?”

Gabriel takes Sam’s hand and helps him up with surprising ease for someone so small. 

“Like, a Vulcan mind meld?” Dean asks. He stands and makes his way over to Sam.

“Something like that,” Sam says.

“I _hate_ shapeshifters,” Gabriel says. He inspects Sam’s wrists, snapping to erase the injuries. “Bec’s?”

“Yeah,” Sam confirms.

-

Gabriel snaps himself and the Winchesters onto the street. 

“Come on,” Sam says. “We gotta find a phone, call the police.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,” Dean says, rushed and nervous. “You’re gonna put an APB on me.”

Sam shrugs. “Sorry,” he says.

“This way,” Dean instructs. He starts running before Sam and Gabriel can tell him that flying is faster. Sam runs after him. Gabriel flies.

-

The shapeshifter, wearing Dean’s skin, makes a move on Rebecca.

The shapeshifter, wearing Dean’s skin, ties Rebecca to a chair.

The shapeshifter, wearing Dean’s skin, beats Rebecca.

A S.W.A.T. team searches the house.

-

Sam and Dean stand in front of a store window displaying a mess of televisions, a news report playing on all of them. Gabriel appears next to them, not nearly as winded as they are. He stands to Sam’s side.

“Any anonymous tip led police to a home in the Central West End, where a S.W.A.T. team discovered a local woman bound and gagged. Her attacker, a white male, approximately twenty-four to thirty years of age, was discovered hiding in her home.”

A passable sketch of Dean appears on the screen.

“Man!” Dean complains. “That’s not even a good picture.”

“You’re right,” Gabriel agrees. “He looks _way_ too attractive.”

“Hey!” Dean says. “I’d say I’m-”

Sam looks around cautiously. “It’s good enough,” he says quickly. He walks away.

“Man!” Dean follows Sam. Gabriel walks after them.

-

The group walks through an alley. Dean steps in a puddle. “Come on,” he grumbles.

“They said attempted murder. At least we know-”

“I don’t kill her,” Dean finishes.

“We’ll check with Rebecca in the morning, see if she’s alright,” Sam says.

“Alright, but first I wanna find that handsome devil and kick the holy crap out of him,” Dean says.

They stop walking.

“I’d say _hadsome’s_ taking it a little far,” Gabriel says.

“We have no weapons,” Sam says, more focused on their situation instead of his boyfriend’s view of his brother’s attractiveness. “No silver bullets.”

“Sam, the guy’s walkin’ around with my face, okay? It’s a little personal; I wanna find him.” 

“Poor thing,” Gabriel says. “If _I_ had to walk around with _your_ face, I’d smite myself.”

Sam smacks Gabriel’s arm. “Gabe, come on,” he says.

“Okay, okay. Don’t joke while there’s a manhunt for Dean. Got it. Got it.” 

“Where do we look?” Sam asks.

“Well, we could start with the sewers,” Dean suggests.

“We have no weapons,” Sam repeats. “He stole our guns, we need more.”

They pause to think. Gabriel watches the brothers. 

“The car?” Sam suggests.

“I’m bettin’ he drove over to Rebecca’s,” Dean says, thinking about the shit that shapeshifter could do to his car.

“The news said he fled on foot. I bet it’s still parked there,” Sam says.

Dean clenches his fist. “The thought of him drivin’ my car,” he says, angry. 

“We get it, you’re horny for your car, Queen, etcetera, etcetera,” Gabriel says.

“Alright, come on,” Sam says, beginning to walk once more.

“It’s killin’ me,” Dean continues.

“Let it go,” Gabriel says. 

-

The group approaches from the side of a hedge to find the Impala parked at the edge.

Dean relaxes a little at the sight of his car, his face filling with joy. “Oh, there she is! Finally, something went right tonight.”

A police car parks next to the Impala, siren sounding.

“Oh, crap,” Dean says, face falling.

They turn around, but there’s another police car parked a few yards away. 

“This way, this way,” Dean directs, moving towards a wooden fence.

“You go,” Sam suggests. “we’ll hold ‘em off.”

Gabriel nods. 

“What are you talking about?” Dean asks. “They’ll catch you.”

“Listen, they can’t hold us,” Gabriel says. 

“Just go, keep out of sight. Meet me at Rebecca’s,” Sam instructs.

Dean begins climbing over the fence with the ease of someone who’s climbed fences for a great part of his life.

“Dean,” Sam says. Dean stops climbing and turns around. “Stay out of the sewers alone.”

Dean doesn’t reply, just hops over the fence.

“I mean it!” Sam says.

“Yeah, yeah!” Dean replies from behind the fence.

“He’s not gonna listen,” Gabriel mutters.

“Don’t move!” a police officer commands. “Keep your hands where I can see ‘em.”

Sam and Gabriel raise their hands in the air.

-

Dean retrieves a gun from the back of the Impala, talking quietly to himself. “I’m sorry, Sam. But you know me- I just can’t wait.” He closes the trunk, then walks off.

-

Dean’s looking around the sewer, exactly as Sam had instructed him not to. Not that he's listened to anything Sam’s told him before. _He’s_ the older brother, dammit. He gets to boss Sam around, not the other way around.

He stumbles across a chamber full of candles and chains, like some sort of perverted sex dungeon. There are rotting piles of skin and blood scattered around the floor. 

A noise sounds from another part of the sewer. Dean follows it, ripping a sheet off a filthy, terrified Rebecca, hands and feet bound with rope.

“Rebecca?” Dean asks, horrified.

-

Gabriel’s dealing with the police with his silver trickster tongue while Sam’s inside Rebecca’s house with the shapeshifter, in the form of Rebecca, shares beers with him.

“So, say this shapeshifter is real,” the shapeshifter says, walking over to Sam, on the couch. “By the way, you know you’re crazy? But, um, say it is real. How do you stop it?” She replaces Sam’s now-empty bottle with a new one.

“Thanks,” Sam says. He sighs. “Silver bullet to the heart.”

The shapeshifter chuckles. “You _are_ crazy,” she says, then smashes the empty bottle over Sam’s head.

Sam falls over, unconscious. The shapeshifter’s eyes reflect silver for a moment.

-

Dean unties Rebecca’s ropes while she cries, horrified. “What happened?”

“I was walking home, and everything just went white,” Rebecca sobs. “Someone hit me over the head, and I wound up here just in time to see that thing turn into me.” She shudders. “I don’t know. How is that even possible?”

“Okay, okay,” Dean says, soothing. “It’s okay.” He finishes untying her, allowing the ropes to fall to the filthy sewer ground. “Come on. Can you walk?”

Rebecca nods. 

“Okay, we’ve gotta hurry. Sam went to see you.”

-

The shapeshifter, wearing Dean’s skin once more, finishes tying Sam’s hands and feet, idly walking around the kitchen.

“What are you gonna do to me?” Sam asks.

“Oh, _I’m_ not gonna do anything,” the shapeshifter corrects. “Dean will, though.”

“They’ll never catch him,” Sam says. He’s mentally screaming Gabriel’s name so loudly that he swears the shapeshifter can hear it.

“Oh, doesn’t matter. Murder in the first of his own brother? He’ll be hunted the rest of his life.” The shapeshifter picks up a sharp knife from the knife block on the counter and carefully examines it. “I must say, I will be sorry to lose this skin. Your brother’s got a lot of good qualities. You should appreciate him more than you do.” He begins pouring himself a drink. “Cheers.”

“Guess who else’s getting hunted,” Gabriel says, appearing beside Sam. He snaps, Sam’s ropes untying themselves like snakes. “Your ass.”

The shapeshifter blinks at Gabriel.

“What, you think I’d let you remember Sam’s archangel boyfriend?” Gabriel puts his hands on his hips and glares at the shapeshifter. “I’m better-insured than that.”

Sam springs at the shapeshifter, ripping the knife from his hands and swinging at him. The shapeshifter grabs Sam’s arm while he’s swinging, twisting it painfully.

“Oh, you son of a bitch,” the shapeshifter grumbles. 

Sam swings around his weight, trying to pin the shapeshifter down, using his height as an advantage. Dean’s more adapted to a fight than Sam is

“Not bad, little brother,” the shapeshifter says.

“You’re not him,” Sam grunts.

“Even when we were kids, I always kicked your ass,” the shapeshifter quips. He grabs a pool cue and swings at him with it, hitting the light fixture hanging over the pool table instead, which shatters.

Gabriel snaps, the pool cue appearing in Sam’s hand instead. He swings at the shapeshifter, missing.

“Hey!” Dean yells.

The shapeshifter looks at Dean, springing off of Sam for a moment, readying himself for another fight

Dean aims his recovered gun at the shapeshifter and pulls the trigger twice, shooting him in the heart. 

The shapeshifter falls to the ground. 

Rebecca enters, seeing the dead shapeshifter, wearing Dean’s skin, Sam holding the pool cue, looking rumpled, her house, destroyed, and Gabriel, his shadowy wings stretched out behind him. 

“Sam! Gabe!” Rebecca runs over to them.

Dean walks over to the corpse of himself, staring down at it with amazement, and notices him wearing Dean’s signature necklace. He yanks it from its neck and nods at the rest of the group.

-

With the warm light of day shining down, the shapeshifter seems far away. Dean’s by the Impala, reading a glossy map off the hood.

Sam and Gabriel come out of Rebecca’s house with her. Rebecca’s hair is tied back, showing the fading bruises on her neck, and the shapeshifter had split her lip, but she’s healing.

“So, this is what you do? You and your brother- you hunt down these kinds of things?” Rebecca asks.

“Yeah, pretty much,” Sam says.

“And Gabriel’s a- what?”

“Archangel of the Lord,” Gabriel says, eyebrows raised. He leans against Sam’s side. 

“I can’t believe it,” Rebecca says. “I mean, I saw it with my own eyes. And, I mean, does everybody at school- nobody knows you do this?”

“Jess and Luis do,” Sam confesses. “They, um, were the only ones I could see before we left. We sort of… left in a hurry.”

“Fire and all. Charming, demons, right?” Gabriel snaps up a KitKat. 

“Must be lonely,” Rebecca says. 

“Oh, no. No, it’s not so bad,” Sam says. “Anyway, what can I do? It’s my family.” Sam looks down at Gabriel, then over at Dean.

Rebecca laughs. “Well, you know, Zach and me, and everybody at school- we really miss you.” She hugs Sam, then Gabriel.

“Yeah, me too,” Sam says, full of fond memories of his friends, regretting having to leave them all.

Rebecca pulls away from both of them. “Well, will you guys call sometime? Maybe when we get a happy announcement?”

“We will. Trust us,” Gabriel says.

“It might not be for a little while,” Sam says. 

Rebecca nods and waves to Dean, still a little scared by him, regardless of the fact that he’d never laid a finger on her. Dean waves back. Rebecca goes back inside as Sam and Gabriel walk over to the Impala, Sam sighing deeply.

“So, what about your friend, Zach?” Dean asks.

“Well, it turns out, cops are blamin’ this creepy Dean Winchester guy for Emily’s murder,” Gabriel says, leaning against the Impala. “Found the murder weapon and Zach’s clothes covered in her blood, right in this guy’s freaky lewer sex dungeon!” Gabriel beams at Dean. “They’re thinking the surveillance tape was fixed. Could you imagine?”

“Yeah, Becky says Zach will be released soon,” Sam says. He offers Dean a small smile.

Dean rolls his eyes and gets in the Impala.

-

“Sorry, man,” Dean says, gruffly. He drives the Impala smoothly down the rural road.

“About what?” Sam asks. The skin around one of his eyes is mottled with a healing bruise.

“I really wish things could be different, you know?” Dean says, wistful. “I wish you could just be… Joe College and his boyfriend.”

“No, that’s okay,” Sam says. He glances at Gabriel over his shoulder. “You know, the truth is, even at Stanford, deep down, I never really fit in.”

“Neither did I,” Gabriel offers.

“Well, that’s ‘cuz you’re freaks. Both of ya,” Dean says.

“Yeah, thanks,” Sam says.

“Well, I’m a freak, too,” Dean says. “I’m right there with you guys, all the way.” He stares at the road.

Sam laughs. “Yeah, I know you are.”

“You know, I gotta say- I’m sorry I’m gonna miss it,” Dean says.

“What exactly are you missing?” Gabriel asks.

“How many chances am I gonna have to see my own funeral?”

Dean and Sam smile at each other in the front. Gabriel snorts in the back.

**Author's Note:**

> Two fics in as many days! Whoo!
> 
> Hope y'all enjoy this one. I had a bit of fun with this. Looks like the further we get into this series, the more powerful Dean realizes Gabriel is, huh?
> 
> I really appreciate comments! If you guys have anything you would like to say, I'd love to hear it. :D


End file.
